


Once in a Blue Moon

by cherry6om6



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Coco (2017)
Genre: Action, Crime Fighting, Crushes, Cute Kids, Family Drama, First Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-14 13:03:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15389355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherry6om6/pseuds/cherry6om6
Summary: Thirteen year-old Miguel Rivera has embarked on the opportunity of a lifetime, to study abroad in one of the most fantastic cities in the US: San Fransokyo. He has a scholarship to the world renowned Performing Arts Academy, and he can't wait to start studying music in earnest. What he doesn't expect is to be sharing a room with a teenage superhero.Fifteen year-old Hiro Hamada is working on a new investigation, into a dangerous world of organized crime. He has his team to back him up, but when an exchange student arrives to live with Aunt Cass for the year, things become far more complicated.For Hiro life is about action, for Miguel life is about experience. Living together they begin to discover new feelings and are forced into new perspectives. A lot can happen in one wild year.





	1. Miguel Starts a New Life

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone. I just wanted to give y'all an idea of what this fic is all about. I've seen a lot of aged-up romance stories about these two, but I really wanted to write something sweet about these boys at the ages they are at the end of their respective films. Hopefully y'all are up for some baby crime-fighting and baby crushes with lots of new friendships and hopefully some character development.  
> Another thing to note is that in this story Miguel is learning English, so the way he speaks in English reflects this--I tired to use common mistakes that I often make when speaking in another language like verb tenses and word order etc. I am DEFINITELY not trying to belittle ELLs, I just wanted to try to be more authentic with the dialogue.  
> Please enjoy the story <3

**Chapter 1, Miguel**

        Miguel tugged nervously at the blue lanyard around his neck. ‘UM’ was printed on the tag in stiff gray letters as if his size wasn’t a clear enough indication that he was a minor and the fact that he was alone did not indicate that he was unaccompanied. Miguel was grateful for the tag in any case as it had been much less intimidating to fly to a foreign country with the assistance of kind and occasionally pitying airport staff—even if they didn’t speak a word of Spanish. He walked alongside one now, a blonde woman in a neatly starched uniform—towards the gateway marked ‘Arrivals’ with his guitar on his back and the rest of his worldly possessions in a duffel over his shoulders.  
The plane ride from Mexicio City to San Fransokyo was only around five hours and had been pretty enjoyable for Miguel who had never ridden on a plane before. He was shocked when he discovered you could get a soda without having to pay anything. His nerves only really began to hit as the plane descended into California, Miguel’s stomach doing flip-flops with each lurch of the airplane. He’d never been away from his family before and while he knew the opportunity to study abroad in the United States was an incredible experience and a luxury—he could already feel pangs of homesickness. It’s only for a year, he thought, squeezing his eyes shut because they had started to sting. He rubbed his nose with a fist to get rid of the prickly feeling of welling tears and took a deep breath. He might have shouted, as his great-great-grandfather Héctor had taught him, to release his tension, but the thought of doing that in a crowded airport made him feel even more tense.  
The blonde woman led him through the sliding doors to the arrivals area, she gave him a big smile.

       “You must be glad to get out of the airport.” She said, then she looked down at an ipad she was holding, not expecting a response. This was just as well since Miguel was biting his lip and trying to think of the meaning of ‘glad.’

  
       “You’re looking for the Hamada family right? They’re your host family?” The lady asked. Miguel looked out over the small crowd of people gathered by the gate, many held signs with names on them. He’d skyped with Cassandra Hamada, his host, a week ago from his living room. She’d been wonderfully nice and told him all about where he’d be staying. Apparently she had a nephew that was only two years older than him. He looked for Cassandra now, nodding to answer the question his guide had asked him.

  
       “I think that I see her, um Miss Hamada.” Miguel said, spotting a slight woman with a wild mop of brown hair. He pointed. She held a piece of white printer paper with ‘Miguel Rivera” on it in black sharpie and was looking around over people’s heads.

  
        “I can go over there?” He asked, looking up at the lady who’d brought him through the airport. She smiled down at him.

  
        “Yes of course, here let me take your lanyard.” Miguel was relieved that she pointed to the tag around his neck to indicate what she wanted. He adjusted his duffel to that he could slip off the lanyard and hand it over.

  
        “Um, thank you.” He said, with a nervous smile.

  
        “My pleasure Miguel, I hope you enjoy your time here.” The lady reached out to take Miguel’s hand and shake it. Then Miguel turned and headed towards Cassandra, who by this time had seen Miguel and waved excitedly. Miguel’s stomach flip-flopped again, but he made his way over to her.

  
        “Miguel! Hola!” She gave him a hug but then halfway through it seemed as if she was questioning herself so she stopped and stepped back, only to take his hand and pump his arm up and down in a lively handshake. She laughed a little nervously.

  
        “Sorry I guess I should’ve asked if you wanted a hug, I’m just a hugger—it’s what I do, um sorry I’m not the most coherent person, oh it’s just so nice to see you in person.”  
Miguel smiled because he didn’t know what else to do, Cassandra was speaking quite quickly so following her wasn’t that easy. Something about wanting hug, it was clear this was a greeting though which was something easy.

  
        “It is nice to meet you too Miss Hamada.” Miguel said, he must have looked a little lost because when Cassandra replied it was slower.

   
        “Oh please, Aunt Cass is fine. I mean… You can call me Aunt Cass.”Miguel was surprised for a moment, then he felt a flood of relief. It was such a small thing, but it made him feel suddenly more welcomed to pretend as if he had family here.

  
        “Okay, Tía Cass!” He grinned at her feeling much more at home. She smiled back.

  
        “Oh that sounds even better. I’ve never been a ‘Tía’ before, that’s kind of exciting.” Cass gushed ruffling Miguel’s hair. Suddenly she jerked her hand back.  
“Oh sorry again, I keep acting without thinking I’m just an affectionate person and I’m so used to being around my nephew… I’m so sorry I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” She was back to speaking quickly and moving her hands around in waving motions. Miguel mostly only caught words here and there but he thought he had an idea of what she was saying.

  
        “It is okay, I like hugs!” Miguel said sincerely, to which Cass seemed startled momentarily and then laughed.  
“I think we’ll get along just fine then!”

 

        The drive to the Hamada residence was fairly short, even with evening traffic. Miguel spent most of it staring out the passenger side window with his mouth hanging open, gasping at the scope of the city. San Fransokyo presented a blur of fantastic colors, lights, sounds. It was nothing at all like the warm rustic colors of Santa Cecelia. Instead neon lights flashed with advertisements and road markings all stacked on top of one another and battling for attention. Miguel didn’t know where to look. Some of the buildings looked like spaceships or shiny shark-like obsidian towers while others appeared to be built in an entirely different style that featured more ornamentation and roofs that curled up at the corners. Everything seemed to glow with a blue light that made Miguel feel as though he’d traveled years into the future instead of across a country boarder. Cass watched him take it in.

  
        “I know it seems a little crazy, but trust me our neighborhood is lovely.” She assured him.

  
        “I think it is wonderful.” Miguel said. Actually, what he couldn’t express to Cass, was that the city reminded him sharply of the land of the dead—the way the buildings were stacked on top of one another and glowed so brightly. In a way it was a bit like revisiting last wild Día de Muertos when he’d traveled to that city with his extended family.  
They had reached a quieter part of the city now, after climbing several hills in the car. The houses here seemed different. They had more windows and they were rounder. Miguel thought they seemed very fancy but also more comfortable with the colored trim and the flowers that grew around them and in window boxes.

  
        Cass pulled up to one of these houses, a blue one whose upstairs windows glowed with a warm yellow light. The front had a canopy that extended over the sidewalk and a shop window displaying pretty breads and other treats. The light inside this part was dark though and a sign hung on the door that read, ‘Sorry we’re closed.’ Cass got out a key and opened this door anyway, ushering Miguel inside with a sweep of her arm.

  
        The door led into a café that came into warm focus as Cass flicked on a light switch. It was a beautiful space with shiny glass counters and pretty little tables and chairs for patrons. The style was a mix of some of the buildings outside, it had windows in different shapes that made it feel more modern while an assortment of lucky cats waved from various locations. Miguel looked up at Cass with wonder.

  
        “This is your café?”

  
        “Yup!” Cass smiled proudly. “We live in the apartment upstairs,” She pointed to a door in the back of the room.

  
        “I really like it.” Miguel said, trying to come up with a descriptive word to use but drawing a blank. “It is so pretty… and um I like the cats.”

  
        Cass laughed, “Thank you Miguel that’s so sweet of you. You have such good manners, must come from your family, they’ve raised you well! I only wish I had done such a good job with my nephews...” She was rambling again and talking fast but Miguel caught the bit about his family and beamed with pride.  
“Oh look at you, you’re so cute!” Cass exclaimed pinching his dimpled cheek. “Now let’s get on into the house you must be exhausted from all that travel, I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”

  
        She led him up a flight of stairs, and pointed out the kitchen, living room and bathroom before going upwards again. The stairs here were thinner and looked like they led into the attic. The whole house was lovely. The outside matched perfectly with the inside, both were quietly fancy in a way that seemed lost in time, the way Miguel’s own home did, even if the style was different.

  
        “I think Hiro—my nephew, is probably up here working on some project or another. I told him to clean up a little but I apologize in advance for him if it’s still messy.”  
Cass knocked on the door to the attic room, Miguel felt his breath catch standing behind her on the stairs. He was excited to meet Hiro and wanted badly to make a good impression as they would be sharing a room for the year.

  
        “Come in!” Came a muffled reply. Cass opened the door and led Miguel into the bedroom. Miguel’s first thought was that it was enormous. The ceiling was high towards the center of the room and it was divided in half by paper screens. There were posters on the walls and some funny looking masks as well. Then he noticed the mess. One side of the room was practically empty aside from a few shelves and boxes beside a large bed. The other was clearly very occupied. There were papers and bits of electronics scattered over every inch of the floor. More parts of machines were stored in hap-hazard boxes. A desk with a computer held even more engineering projects as well as tools and several dozen candy wrappers. Clothes were strewn about the floor and on the bed as well. A boy was standing sheepishly beside the desk.

  
        “Aunt Cass… Sorry I was going to clean up but, I uh got sidetracked?” The boy fidgeted and his wild black hair fell into his eyes. He had the kind of hair that Miguel’s Abuelita would never stand for; long and shaggy with no particular style except that it spiked every which way in a fluffy tangle. Secretly Miguel thought it was kind of cool to have long hair though he’d never have the guts to try it himself. Besides his hair the boy was quite skinny and pale, wearing over-sized clothing that hung from his delicate frame unflatteringly. He’d layered two shirts on top of one another, one long-sleeve and the other short with some kind of futuristic-looking logo on the front. The boy walked over to them, absently pushing his bangs out of his eyes. He was a few inches taller than Miguel. Up close his dark eyes seemed almost black in the low-lit bedroom but they shone with some inner spark that made Miguel want to stare at them. When the boy smiled he had a gap between his two front teeth.

  
        “Hi, I’m Hiro.” He stuck out a hand for Miguel to take. “Sorry it’s a mess—at least your side is clean though.” Miguel shook Hiro’s hand, noticing that even the other boy’s hands were thin and delicate although they were larger than Miguel’s own. He thought self-consciously about the callouses on his fingers.

  
        “It is nice to meet you Hiro, um thank you for letting me sleep in your room.” Hiro and Cass both laughed at that so Miguel smiled along, rubbing one arm nervously with his hand.

  
        “It’s fine, there’s lots of space anyways.”

  
        “Why don’t you put your bags down Miguel?” Cass suggested, gesturing to the clean half of the room. Gratefully, Miguel walked over and slipped his duffel off over his head, then gently did the same with his guitar case, putting both carefully on the bed. It was so much bigger than his bed at home, in fact the whole room was bigger than his room at home. He felt all at once very far from his family and excitement at the new adventure he was having. He also felt tired.

  
        “You could have at least tried to make it presentable!” Cass was berating her nephew who was rubbing the back of his head apologetically when Miguel turned back around. Miguel yawned with a hand over his mouth. He rubbed his eyes, trying to remember the last time he slept. Last night felt like it might have been a year ago.

        “Oh you must be so tired! Let’s all wait to get better acquainted in the morning why don’t we?” Cass had caught Miguel’s yawn. And now she beckoned him with her hand.  
“Come this way, I’ll show you were the towels are and you can shower and get on to bed.”

  
        Miguel, who was used to showering only once a week and on holidays was surprised. Hot water was expensive. Obediently he grabbed his toothbrush and pajamas from his duffel and followed Cass back down the stairs to the second floor. Hiro returned to whatever it was he was doing on the computer and when Miguel returned to the room, clean and warm and more sleepy than ever he was still clicking away at the keyboard. He didn’t look up when Miguel came in and so Miguel walked as quietly as he could to his bed and crawled under the covers, trying not to disturb his new roommate. As soon as Miguel closed his eyes he felt sleep beginning to take hold.  
Someone cleared their throat then, which made Miguel jump and sit up in bed. It was Hiro who was peeking around the paper screens.

    
        “Uh...Goodnight.” Hiro said giving a tiny wave. In spite of his rapidly beating heart Miguel smiled and waved back, pleased.

  
        “Goodnight Hiro.”


	2. Hiro Has a Mexican Breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all the kind and encouraging comments, you guys are the best. I do plan to continue this fic, it will be updated every Sunday. I also added a little illustration to this chapter, I probably won't do one for every chapter but I think making a couple would be fun!

**Chapter 2, Hiro**

        Hiro had stayed up long after Miguel fell asleep. He was working on some projects. Coding new moves for Baymax and researching his most current frustration—a crime syndicate whose only marker thus far had been the intricacy of a string of drug exports leaving no traceable clues save for the particular tattoos some of the roughs he’d caught with his team had on their wrists. The tattoos looked like tiny black dogs with sharply pointed ears. The roughs in question had all escaped without providing further information and the only leads Hiro was left with were the tattoos and the fact that the group was exporting drugs. At three AM he called it quits and rolled into bed without bothering to change out of his clothes.

        Hiro woke up to a sunlit bedroom. He rubbed his eyes harshly with the palms of his hands and considered going back to sleep. He concluded after a brief inner debate that he did not want to waste any more of his weekend, and so he sat up running a hand through his wild hair. Immediately he smelled something delicious wafting up from downstairs. It was not a smell he was expecting as Aunt Casss liked to make special breakfasts on the weekend, but something spicier and more savoury. His mouth watered as he hastily changed into a new shirt and ran his fingers through his hair until it resembled hair again. He paused to glace over to Tadashi’s side of the room to see if Miguel was still asleep but he found the bed had been made.

        On his way downstairs Hiro heard voices from the kitchen and the smell of food grew stronger. He rounded the corner and saw Miguel scooping fried eggs from a pan onto plates of what looked like beans on a tortilla with some kind of red sauce. It smelled amazing.

        “Next time I can show you how to make my special Belgian waffles!” Aunt Cass was saying. Miguel’s eyes lit up as he turned to her.

        “Really? You will teach me?”

        Aunt Cass’s eyes widened in surprise and then she laughed. “Of course!” Then she spotted Hiro who was lingering by the stairs. Watching Aunt Cass and Miguel was making him feel odd, he suddenly remembered all the times he’d slithered out of spending time with her in favor of more important things.

        “Hiro! Good morning sleepyhead!” She waved him over. Miguel turned around and gave a little wave with the spatula, smiling so his dimple showed in his cheek.

        Seeing Miguel at all made him feel odd. His roommate had dressed this morning in stylishly cuffed jeans and a T-shirt with a colorful abstract design on the front pocket. He looked fresh as the morning in the sunny kitchen, practically glowing in the yellow light from the windows. Hiro felt like a nocturnal cave creature blinking in the sun.

       “Good morning Hiro! I make Huevos Rancheros for you breakfast! This we eat a lot at my home.” Miguel was beaming and Hiro couldn’t help but smile back.

        “Wow thanks, it smells really good.” Hiro stepped into the kitchen as Miguel put the pan and the spatula into the sink.

        “I hope you like it.” Miguel said, biting his lip and shrugging with one shoulder.

        “Let’s take take these to the table!” Aunt Cass exclaimed and handed off two of the plates of food to Hiro to carry over to the dining table.

        Tucking in, Huevos Rancheros was absolutely delicious. Aunt Cass closed her eyes and put a hand to her cheek.

        “Oh my god Miguel, this is incredible!” She sighed. Miguel’s cheeks flushed a rosy color rendering him a sepia photograph.

        “Thank you.” He said. Then he turned towards Hiro.

        “You like them?” He asked, looking more expectant than he had any right to.

 

        “Yeah, wicked good.” Hiro gave Miguel a thumbs up and was rewarded with another glowing dimpled smile.

        “What are you up to today?” Aunt Cass questioned, taking another bite of food. Truthfully Hiro was planning to spend the day searching for a way to locate the criminals he was trying to apprehend with the help of his team.

        “Uh probably gonna hang out with my friends..?” Hiro shrugged.

        “Oh that sounds good, you should take Miguel along with you and he can meet everyone. You could even show him where the academy is!”

        “But...but um...” Hiro silently cursed his Aunt. He wasn’t exactly prepared to drag a kid around on his superhero patrol. But now Miguel was looking at him with his big warm brown eyes, a quiet sense of anticipation radiating from his face.

        “Ugh, I guess so.” Hiro shrugged again and rolled his eyes. Aunt Cass who had been frowning, now smiled. Miguel’s eyes were like stars.

        Miguel insisted on helping with the dishes which meant that the pair didn’t leave the house until eleven. By this time Hiro was quite anxious to get to work with his team but Miguel kept wanting to stop and look at things on the way. Everything seemed to fascinate him; from the street trolleys riding steadily up and down the steep hills to the huge wind turbines shaped like fish that floated through the sky above the city like enormous colored balloons. He would point at something and shout:

        “Ay what is this?” And Hiro would do his best to explain.

        It was most difficult to explain why certain buildings looked the way they did, so when Miguel asked why the skyscrapers looked ‘like that’ Hiro answered that the cooperations wanted to show off how wealthy they were.

        “They make it that way so people know they are have money? I think that is kind of um, um unnecessary.” Miguel’s nose wrinkled.

        Hiro laughed, “Yeah it is.” Then added, “What you guys don’t have skyscrapers in Mexico?”

        “Not in Santa Cecelia, where I live. But I have not visited many places in my country. It is very much money.”

        “Huh, well what do they have in Santa Cecelia?” Hiro asked suddenly realizing that he was genuinely interested.

        “Not so much as here. We have Mariachi Plaza though where the musicians play! And it is the birthplace of Héctor Rivera my great-great grandfather and one of the most talented musicians of all time!” Hiro thought of the guitar Miguel had brought with him.

        “And let me guess, you’re a musician too.” Miguel nodded enthusiastically.

        “I am learning to be one. That is why I want to come here. To study music.”

        “That’s right you’re going to the performing arts academy.” Hiro remembered, “That’s a pretty good school. Hey you should play for Aunt Cass sometime, I bet she’d love it.” Miguel’s smile lit like a flame.

        “Do you think so? I definitely will! You can listen too, I promise you’ll like it.”

        Hiro found himself feeling breathless and turned away from Miguel’s honest face to look out the window of the trolley they were riding.

        “Oh yeah? How do you know I like your music?” Hiro challenged, unable to stop himself.

        “I will sing you some of my great-greant grandfather’s music, you will see he is the best!” Miguel’s good spirits were unwavering.

         “That’s cheating you have to write it yourself.” Hiro heard himself say.

        “I have written some.” Miguel said fervently, “They maybe not be so good as Papa Héctor’s.” He added with a nervous laugh.

        A brief silence fell over the pair as Hiro stared off down the street and Miguel fidgeted in his seat.

        “So what do you study at school?” Miguel asked, taking Hiro by surprise.

        “Oh uh, well I go to university now and I’m learning robotics. That is, programming and building robots.” Miguel’s mouth opened in amazement.

        “You go to university? How old are you?”

        This was what always surprised people about Hiro and he was used to the shocked looks by now.

        “Yup, I’m a fifteen year old genius.” He shrugged jokingly but still felt a little smug.

        “Wow so you are very smart?” Miguel asked, as if to verify that he’d understood. Hiro felt his cheeks turning hot.

        “I mean I guess you could say it like that.” He tried to sound casual but Miguel’s impressed expression was making it very hard.

        Thankfully they arrived at their stop and became busy with climbing off the trolley and walking up towards the university science and engineering building.

        “Your school is very big!” Miguel announced. Hiro wondered if Miguel’s permanent expression was one of dazzled amazement.

        “Yeah I mean it’s pretty cool. Wait until you see the lab though.” Hiro led the way up the huge stone steps and into the building. There were a few students walking this way and that with tools or supplies, headed to one lab or another to work on projects. Hiro suspected many of them were working on assignments due Monday.

        “Everyone is so old.” Miguel whispered and Hiro jumped at the soft breath the boy’s voice caused on his ear. Trying to look like he wasn’t, Hiro attempted to rub his hand over the ear which resulted in him just brushing the back of it with his fingers. He laughed nervously.

        “Uh, well it is a university. Most of the students are probably in their twenties.”

        “And your friends also?” Miguel asked.

        “Yup, my friends too. Don’t worry though they’re cool.”

        By this time the boys had reached the second floor robotics lab and Hiro opened the door for Miguel as Tadashi had once done for him. He anticipated Miguel’s reaction with bated breath. Walking inside, Miguel’s mouth hung open and his wide eyes grew even wider as if he might be able to process what he was seeing if he could stare at it long enough. Hiro remembered the first time he’d seen the workshop and guessed that for Miguel the experience was even more incredible as he wasn’t likely to understand the science he was seeing.

        “Hiro!” Honey Lemon was beside them in an instant, giving Hiro a quick hug and then brushing her long honey hair back behind her ear. “We thought you weren’t going to make it!”

        “Sorry, just a little delayed this morning.” Hiro’s eyes shifted over to Miguel was was still drinking in the sights of the workshop.

        “Oh my goodness who is this?” Honey asked, noticing Miguel for the first time. Miguel turned to her and then his head tilted back and back and back before he was looking at her face. Hiro almost laughed.

         “This is Miguel, he’s the exchange student we’re hosting from Mexico.”

        “Oh! ¡Hola! Buenos días Miguel. Soy Honey Lemon.” She held out her hand for Miguel who shook it and replied excitedly in Spanish. Their conversation swiftly became more complicated than Hiro’s two years of high school Spanish lessons so he left them to it. Oddly he felt a strange sting of jealousy over the instant companionship between the two, but he ignored it and headed into his own lab room, which had once belonged to his brother.

        Once inside, he shut the door and tried to focus on his work. He had meant to use the university’s superior computers to run image searches for information on the internet about the dog tattoos. But from outside his door he could hear his friends laughing and playing around with Miguel. Normally it was easy for him to ignore them but for some reason with Miguel there he felt the need to be involved.

        A beeping noise suddenly brought his attention back to the computer screen where he could see a flashing red light over the map of San Fransokyo. He had programmed this map to tell him where illegal activity was taking place as it hacked into all of the cities’ surveillance cameras and analyzed the recordings for anything suspicious. He clicked on the dot and pulled up the camera footage. The camera was mounted on a warehouse down by the docks. It showed grainy images of a huge truck racing by, perused by a lone police car with it’s lights flashing. The dot was moving steadily now and blinked out momentarily as it moved between surveillance cameras.

        Hiro jumped up from his chair, heart pounding. He was ready for action. He called to activate Baymax and hurried to pull on his pilot suit as the robot inflated. When they were both armored, Hiro opened the enormous window and fired up Baymax’s jets. They were just taking off through the window when Hiro felt a sudden weight on his right leg. He looked down only to see Miguel holding onto his leg for dear life—eyes wide in terror.


	3. Miguel Doesn't Like to Fly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for not posting yesterday :( I am still trying to update Sundays.

******Chapter 3, Miguel**

 

        “Baymax!” Hiro shouted.

        The enormous robot shifted underneath Miguel’s hands and one of its long arms reached out to push him up further onto its back. In retrospect, jumping onto the back of a giant flying robot was not the smartest idea Miguel had ever had. It was just that when he opened the door to see Hiro flying off his body reacted without thinking. He wasn’t sure if he’d thought Hiro was in danger, but he realized now that he never could’ve stopped such a massive robot with his own weight. He was far beyond the point of working this out however as he felt the initial adrenaline wearing off and leaving behind only a deep-seated horror at being so high off the ground where one could conceivably take a long fall towards the city below them.

        “Take my hand!” Hiro shouted against the wind rushing past, but Miguel couldn’t move. He couldn’t let go to take Hiro’s hand. In his mind, he felt his body being flung over the side of a building at the hands of a vengeful skeleton. His eyes were unfocused, he wasn’t sure where he was, only that it was so hard to breathe.

        “Miguel! Look at me!” Hiro shouted again. Miguel looked. Here was Hiro, attached to the back of the robot with some kind of magnetic boots and gloves. He was holding out one gloved hand, his eyes were wild with emotion. Miguel gasped a shuddering breath and grabbed Hiro’s outstretched hand. Hiro caught him and hauled him up to where he could wrap his arms around Hiro’s waist. He clung there, his whole body trembling.

        “You idiot! Are you trying to kill yourself?” Hiro exclaimed. Miguel couldn’t reply even if he had a proper answer for his actions. He buried his face into the back of Hiro’s jacket so he didn’t have to see how high up they were.

        “Baymax, we have to go back!” Hiro shouted.

        “If we stop our pursuit now we will lose our target.” The robot said, but added. “You friend is in need of assistance. He is experiencing symptoms of post traumatic stress.” Hiro groaned.

        “Sorry Miguel but I can’t go back now! Just hold on tight and try not to cause any more problems.”

        Miguel felt stupid for having jumped on the back of the robot, so truly he had no one to blame but himself for his predicament. He wished he’d spent just a little longer with Hiro’s friends before wondering where Hiro had gone.

        “We are approaching the vehicle.” The robot’s voice somehow was still clear even with the speed they were moving at.

        “Can you stop it?” Hiro asked.

        “Affirmative.” The robot replied and then they were plunging downwards sickeningly only to halt just as abruptly and Miguel felt himself jerk down sharply as the robot stood vertically in the street. Miguel had a brief moment of intense relief when he realized they were on the ground—close enough if fact that he could imagine letting go of Hiro’s body and dropping safely to the pavement. The moment passed and the deafening sound of screeching metal paired with a sickening jolt that pushed his body backwards before hurtling it back into Hiro, snapped him back to reality. Miguel felt his nose collide with the back of Hiro’s helmet. The pain came like lightning, bright and blinding, he cried out. Then a terrible ache that was both warm and wet.

        Through the pain Miguel realized that several important things had just occurred. First, the giant robot had literally just stopped a speeding semi-truck with its hands, second a police car with blaring sirens had just pulled up alongside the truck and third that Hiro was moving as if to climb off the robot's back.

        "Let go, I have to check the driver." He said urgently.

        This made literally zero sense to Miguel who had no idea what in God's name was happening, but it seemed like a good idea to _not_ move and wait for the police to do something. Still Hiro seemed to be moving regardless of Miguel’s feelings on the matter so glancing below him to gauge the distance, he let go and dropped to the ground. His face throbbed when he landed and he reached up instinctively to feel his nose. Even a ginger touch was extremely painful, his eyes started to water which made his nose hurt even more. His fingers came away smeared with blood. Hiro was only seconds behind. He winced when he saw Miguel's face but held up a his hands in a gesture meaning 'stay put.'

        "Damn I'm sorry, just... just hang on a second." Then Hiro was gone, around the front side of the robot, presumably to check on the driver of the truck he'd just smashed. Miguel was beginning to think that maybe Hiro was a little bit crazy, or else he had a lot of information Miguel wasn’t privy to. Unwilling to wait patiently for answers after being handled so roughly he took a few cautious steps to look around the giant robot’s legs.

        “Thanks kid, he almost got away from us.” One of the policemen was saying clapping Hiro on the back like they pair knew each other. The truck driver was being led over to the police car and cuffed by the other policeman. Miguel didn’t know of any fifteen year olds who were friends with policemen, but he didn’t know any giant robots either. It was a day of firsts.

        “No problem officer, do you mind if I ask him a few questions? It’s for an on-going investigation.”

        “Be my guest.” The first policeman said, waving a nonchalant hand towards the criminal they’d just apprehended. A man in his forties with graying hair and grease stains on his hands. Hiro walked right over to him, cool as could be. Miguel felt his eyes grow large. He felt surreal in this situation. It’s not like you imagine flying around on robots and apprehending criminals when you’re fantasizing about a year abroad. Inexplicably he thought of Spiderman swooping down from the tops of buildings to catch evil-doers on the run.

        “Care to tell me what you were transporting in that truck? It’ll save me the trip over there to investigate.”

        The man spit at Hiro instead of answering, to which the officer restraining him responded by forcing him firmly against the side of the police car. The spit didn’t fly far enough to connect with it’s target and just fell onto the pavement in front of Hiro.

        “Play nice now, there’s children present.” The officer warned in an amused tone.

        “Be that way, I’ll just go have a look myself” Hiro said, and shrugged like this was not really that important to him. On his way towards the back of the truck Miguel watched him look carefully over at the man’s hands which were cuffed behind his back. Miguel had seen all that he cared to see and decided it was in everyone’s best interest for him to not involve himself further. He slowly backed away behind the robot again.

        Hiro wasn’t long in returning and he waved cheerfully at the policemen, who thanked him again and agreed to send him the report of the incident. As soon as he was obscured behind the robot beside Miguel he pulled his helmet off.

        “Oh my god I am so sorry. I really didn’t mean for you to get mixed up in all this… Look I’ll have Baymax do something about your face...Just...just please don’t tell Aunt Cass.” Hiro was fidgeting with his helmet as he talked. The concern in his eyes was very real and Miguel realized that as much as the adventure had scared him—it had been kind of exciting all the same. So he gave Hiro what he hoped was a reassuring smile and then grimaced when it tweaked his sore nose.

        “Why you don’t want to tell your Aunt that you are a superhero?” He asked finally. Hiro’s mouth dropped open and his eyes grew wide with shock.

        “Seriously? We fly here on a robot, you bash your face in, we stop a criminal from delivering a truckload of weapons and the first thing you wonder about is why I won’t tell my Aunt about it?” His voice was incredulous.

        “She is your family, I think she wants to know.” Miguel pressed, he felt certain Cass would understand. Besides, it was a whole side to Hiro she knew nothing about. Oddly it reminded him of himself and keeping his music a secret for so long.

        “She’d only worry about me, or worse, she’d try to stop me.” Hiro said, his face was pleading. Miguel threw up his hands, Hiro’s family relations weren’t his problem after all.

        “I will not tell your secret but I don’t like it.”

        On the flight back, Miguel was much better prepared and wrapped one arm around the robot’s shoulder, up beside its head, and the other around Hiro, who held him tightly in return. He was introduced to Baymax, the robot, who diagnosed him with a broken nose and told him to put ice on it immediately. He also said it would heal well and did not need to be re-set. Hiro spent most of the ride going over excuses Miguel could use with Aunt Cass. It bothered Miguel to lie but he had promised to keep Hiro’s secret.

        “Don’t worry Aunt Cass is pretty gullible.” Hiro assured him—as if that made it any easier to tell false stories.

        When the pair returned to the lab they flew back in the way they had come—scattering papers around but otherwise landing quite gracefully in Hiro's workroom. Miguel was quick to disembark this time and he dutifully sat on the carpet in front of Baymax while Hiro tried to remove the armor on his robot, which revealed something akin to a squishy marshmallow beneath. Baymax made things difficult by attempting to clean the cut on Miguel's nose at the same time. Hiro dug out a bag of ice from a mini fridge under the desk and Baymax made a suitable ice pack by crushing the ice into small pieces and putting it into a towel.

       "Hold this on your nose for approximately 15 minutes. The swelling should go down." Baymax instructed. “The ice should be reapplied every hour.”

        Miguel accepted the ice pack gratefully and gently held it to his face. The coolness felt amazing. Hiro, who still looked mildly apologetic said he was going to tell his friends what happened.

        "And then you will explain why you are... Fighting bad guys?" Miguel asked. He felt he deserved some answers after what he'd been though. Hiro sighed.

        "Yeah okay, I guess I owe it to you. Remember its all top secret though. You really can't tell anyone." Miguel nodded solemnly and Hiro seemed satisfied. He walked back out the door to his workshop. Miguel turned somewhat nervously towards the robot standing beside him.

        “Do you want to sit down?” Miguel asked, then he wondered if Baymax even had that capability.

        “Would it make you more comfortable if I were sitting?” Baymax asked. His two black button eyes blinked. Miguel thought there was an unnatural pause after each word in Baymax’s sentence. An undeniably electronic voice—but it was still comforting.

        “Um, I think so? I think you will also be much more comfortable sitting down.” Miguel said.

        “I am a robot, I have no physical feelings.” Baymax said, but he sat and Miguel, peeking over the edges on the ice pack he held to his nose, thought Baymax looked more comfortable.

        “So is it fun to be a superhero?” Miguel asked after an awkward silence.

        “My purpose is to provide quality healthcare to all my patients to ensure their heath and happiness. To be a superhero improves Hiro’s emotional state.” Baymax said. Miguel frowned beneath the towel. Baymax spoke slowly and steadily unlike Hiro and Cass but the words he used were big and unfamiliar to Miguel. He was saved from having to think further about the English language because Hiro’s friends burst into the room in a tidal wave of concern.

        “Ugh he’s fine!” Hiro could be heard protesting from outside the door, but Miguel was already being swamped by Honey Lemon, Fred and Wasabi.

        “Oh my gosh Miguel let me see!” Honey said, she turned his head this way and that and then stroked his hair. It felt pretty nice. She glared daggers at Hiro.

        “You should have stopped flying immediately when you saw him!” She scolded.

        “I can’t believe you just took off by yourself anyways.” Wasabi chimed in, “I thought we were supposed to be a team.”

        “I didn’t even know if it was a big deal or not, and it wasn’t! Nothing even happened!” Hiro threw up his hands.

        “Something happened.” Gogo said, just loudly enough to draw all the attention in the room.

        “Exactly.” Wasabi echoed, gesturing meaningfully towards Miguel.

        "I am okay!" Miguel said. He realized everyone was blaming Hiro for hurting him, when in reality it had been his own dumb decision to jump into a flying robot.

        "Look at your face! You're not okay." Wasabi said dramatically.

        "I am fine." Miguel said more firmly and scrambled to his feet, out of Honey's grasp.

        "You promised to tell me, about superhero." Miguel said—moving to stand in front of Hiro.

        "Oh yeah." Hiro looked up at the ceiling for a moment as if calling on a higher power. "Just...” He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “Have a seat, its gonna take a minute."

        Miguel sat in Hiro's desk chair while he and his friends described the events leading up to the formation of their superhero team. Miguel appeared more and more awed until even Honey who was angrily keeping out of the discussion to show her irritation at Hiro, was talking animatedly about their fight with an evil scientist who hijacked one of Hiro's inventions. After the story they all took turns showing off their superhero gear.

       Then they went out for ice cream. Then they stopped by a park on their way back to the lab for a couple games of pickup soccer. Miguel was excited to demonstrate a skill of his own and he, Hiro and Fred creamed Wasabi, Honey and Gogo, although he might have had similar luck playing without his team. Hiro was so bad at soccer Miguel found himself debilitated by laughter whenever he looked at him.

        Miguel didn't notice the day passing until the sun was low in the sky and the grass on the field was turning orange. Hiro's phone rang and he stopped playing to answer it.

        "Dude you are like the best ever at soccer." Fred clapped Miguel on the back.

        "Thank you." Miguel beamed. At home he was just average at soccer. Certainly it wasn't the skill he prided himself upon, or spent hours practicing like his music. But everyone at his school spent recesses juggling together or playing tiny scrimmages with too few players.

        "Where are you going to school this year Miguel? You should try out for the soccer team!" Honey said, running up beside them.

        "Try out?" Miguel asked, then added, "Oh I am going to the performing arts academy, for studying music!"

        "Wow multi-talented. But can you play music and soccer at the same time?" Fred asked, face all too serious.

        "Um...I do not think so?" Miguel said.

        "Oh hush Fred." This was Honey, "That's awesome Miguel I hope you show us your music sometime! And a try out is like an audition but for soccer. You have to show the coach your skills before they let you play on the team."

        "Oh."

        "Miguel." Hiro had returned and Miguel turned to see him walking over. "That was Aunt Cass, she wants us to head back for dinner." As soon as Hiro mentioned food Miguel realized that he'd only eaten ice cream for lunch and was ravenous. He nodded eagerly.

        After saying goodbye to Hiro's friends they caught a trolley back up the hill towards the apartment. They rode in comfortable silence for a little bit before Hiro cleared his throat.

        "So... You're not scared off by my crazy friends?" He asked. His tone was joking but Miguel sensed that he was actually a little concerned.

        "You are more scary than your friends." Miguel said cheekily with a dimpled smile. Hiro laughed.

        "That's fair I guess."

        "You are cool too." Miguel said after a beat. Hiro flushed and looked away.

        "Haha you think so?"

        "I mean, you are a superhero! That's cool."

        When the pair arrived back at the apartment Miguel stood outside the door for a moment to take a deep breath. He understood having a huge secret but he wasn't used to telling lies outright and his stomach was tight with nerves.

        "You coming?" Hiro paused with the door half open to look back at him. Miguel nodded and followed Hiro inside.

        "We're back!" Hiro called as they mounted the stairs to the second floor.

        Cass came out of the kitchen wearing and apron and holding a pair of tongs. The apartment smelled delicious and spicy. Miguel's mouth watered.

        Immediately Cass's happy face became one of shocked concern as she took in the state of Miguel's nose. Miguel had checked the damage in the bathroom of the ice cream parlor and he winced—he knew it looked pretty bad. There was a cut along the bridge, it was still swelled up despite the ice and bruised an angry red-purple.

        “Miguel! What happened to you?” Cass hurried over, still holding the tongs and used her other hand to lift Miguel’s chin up. She turned his head from side to side the way Honey had done, surveying the injury.

        “It was an accident, I got hit in the face with a soccer ball.” Miguel said doing his best to appear as though he wasn’t making up stories.

        “Hiro! Your friends are too rough.” Cass tittered, rounding on her nephew with the tongs. Hiro raised his hands in surrender.

        “Hey soccer’s a rough game, besides it was this guy who wanted to play in the first place.” He pointed back at Miguel.

         “Oh as long as you’re alright Miguel, lets put some ice on it after we eat okay?” Miguel was shocked that she’d accepted the lie so easily, and somehow this made him feel guiltier. He shot Hiro an angry look behind Cass’s back. Hiro only shrugged smugly as if to say, ‘see I told you it would be easy.’

        “I made spicy chicken tonight! It’s Hiro’s favorite. Do you like spicy food Miguel? I made some milder in case...” Miguel’s eyes were wide.

        “I like spicy food.” He said. Most of the food he was used to eating was pretty spicy.

        “Oh good! Why don’t you two wash up and I’ll just get the food on the table.” Hiro gave his Aunt and thumbs-up and pulled Miguel to the bathroom by his arm.

        “You’re lucky she’s so gullible. You’re a bad liar.” Hiro said as soon as they were out of earshot.

        “Sorry, I don’t like to lie.” Miguel said, frowning and pulling his arm out of Hiro’s hand.

        “It’s not really that big a deal.” Hiro shrugged and turned on the bathroom sink to begin washing his hands. Miguel stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans while he waited for Hiro to finish.

        “What is a ‘big deal?’” He asked, eyes narrowed.

        “Oh right sorry, it’s an expression. It means uh… like when something matters a lot, when it’s important.” Hiro dried his hands on the towel and Miguel stepped over to the sink—picking up the bar of soap and lathering it between his fingers.

        “So you do not think that lying is important.”

        “Not in the grand scheme of things… ugh sorry that’s another expression. I mean, think of how big the world is and how much what we do individually really matters. Like not actually a whole lot.”

        “I still think that I don’t understand.” Miguel said, but he did know what Hiro was trying to say. Hiro thought that just because he had never experienced a consequence for a lie, that there would never be one. But Miguel knew something about consequences and they rarely cared about how significant you believed you were in the universe.

        “I think you should tell the truth before your lie can make you unhappy.” Miguel said finally, rinsing his hands and taking the towel from Hiro. Hiro’s eyes widened for a moment in unfiltered surprise, and then he laughed.

        “Dude you’re way too serious.” Hiro said giving Miguel’s shoulder a friendly shove. Miguel put the towel back on the towel rack and sighed. Maybe he was taking it out of proportion, he just had a bad feeling.


	4. Hiro Is Emotional

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow another late update. I think I'm just destined to post on Monday...

**Chapter 4, Hiro**

        On Sunday, Miguel had left early to meet up with the coordinators of his exchange program and tour the Performing Arts Academy. Supposedly he was also going on a highlights tour of San Fransokyo with other exchange students, or so he explained at breakfast.

        Hiro felt relieved at first that he would be able to continue his investigation without interruption, but as they day wore on and his online searches yielded no results he began to miss the company. Odd that he could miss the presence of someone who he had only known for a day. He wondered if it came from having the other half of his room filled. It had been forever and also no time at all since the last time someone had occupied the space. Hiro had forgotten how comforting it was to know there was another person just across the room in the dark.

        By the afternoon Hiro was more than ready to get out of the house. His newest plan was ultimately quite stupid, but he thought he needed to get closer to the source. He needed to go undercover to places people might know the reputation of the criminals he was looking for. The main problem was that he didn’t look the part in the least. He called Gogo on FaceTime. Surprisingly, she answered. 

        “Hey… I was wondering if you feel like maybe doing some work on our investigation today?” 

        “What kind of work?” She was chewing gum and she didn’t speak until she’d chewed slowly a few times.

        “Okay don’t say I’m crazy until I’ve finished.” Gogo’s eyebrow went half and inch up her forehead but she didn’t say anything.

        “I think we’ve all been pretty frustrated with lack of results lately, at least I have. Anyways I think our next step should be to really get our hands dirty. You know… Go undercover?” Gogo’s expression didn’t change at all.

        “And uh… Well I’m not exactly the ideal candidate. To get into anywhere worth investigating you probably need to be twenty-one.” There was a pause that lasted just long enough for Hiro to wonder if FaceTime had frozen.

        “Huh, so you want me to go into some sleazy bar looking for information on our tattoo gang?” Her voice was flat and Hiro had literally zero clue what emotion she was feeling at his suggestion.

        “I know how it sounds, but I’ve literally exhausted every other possibility. I mean we can always wait for another drug deal.” Hiro pushed at his bangs. There was another pause during which Hiro tried to think if he had really exhausted all other possibilities.

        “If it was anyone else, yeah I’d probably say that you’re crazy. But dude, I am so in.”

        “I mean… there’s a possibility that the deals all happen within a specific area that we can—wait what did you say?”

        “I’m in.” Gogo flashed him a tight smile and Hiro felt like shouting.

        “Yes! Alright!”

        “But we’re not doing anything until at least eleven. Gangsters don’t go out day drinking.”

        “Fair.” Hiro said. “Let’s meet up around ten thirty then?”

        “Sure.”

        “Thanks Gogo, I have a really good feeling about this.”

        Hiro ended the call and leaned back in his desk chair. He couldn’t believe Gogo had agreed to his stupid plan. He really did think that going undercover would give them the next big break of info they needed to take their investigation to the next level.

        With a plan in place Hiro was stuck without much to do until nighttime so he opened Overwatch and played a few games with Fred and Wasabi. The next time he checked the clock it was already after five. His stomach rumbled to remind him that he hadn’t eaten in many hours. He got up from the computer and stretched. Just then the door opened and Miguel walked in carrying a folder with cheesy photos of the high school he was going to be attending printed over the cover.

        “Hi!” He said with a smile, his cheek dimpling perfectly. Hiro hurried to pull his shirt down where it had ridden up while he stretched. He smoothed some imaginary wrinkles.

        “Hey… How was the touring?”

        Miguel threw himself onto his bed backwards and closed his eyes for a moment before he looked over at Hiro—eyes sparkling.

        “Amazing. This city is...so...so... awesome. And the Academy is perfect. I am so excited to learn there.” Miguel’s voice was full of awe and Hiro felt a pang of an emotion he didn’t recognize.

        “That’s cool.” He said, not sure how to continue the conversation.

        “OH!” Miguel sat up suddenly, “I told Tía Cass that I would help with dinner tonight! You are going to also?” He was already standing up. Hiro had not been planning any such thing and was beginning to think of an excuse before he remembered the odd sensation of watching Miguel and his Aunt cook breakfast together.

        “Uh, yeah.” He said, and followed Miguel downstairs.

        “Did she say what she’s making?” Hiro asked as they entered the second floor.

        “I think hamburgers?” Miguel said then grinned. “I haven’t eaten an American hamburger yet.” Hiro laughed.

        “Well prepare to be amazed.” He said, waving his hands like a magician performing a trick. They found the second floor empty apart from themselves and Hiro wondered if Aunt Cass had closed the café yet.

        “Sometimes it takes longer than she expects to clean up.” Hiro explained.

        “Do you think she needs help?” Miguel asked, already heading down to the café on the first floor. On the way down Hiro had time to wonder why he hadn’t thought to ask Aunt Cass if she needed help himself. Miguel was starting to make him feel like he ought to help out more. When they reached bottom of the stairs they found Aunt Cass packing up unsold pastries from the glass counter.

        “Hey guys! Sorry I’m not quite finished here, I’ll be up to cook in a couple minutes there’s still some cleaning to do.” She smiled at them.

        “We are here to help you!” Miguel said, “What do you need to clean?” Aunt Cass’s eyes grew wide in a look of genuine surprise.

        “You really don’t have to...” She started to say, Miguel looked to Hiro as if asking for help.

        “Uh, Miguel is really excited about those burgers I think it’ll be much faster if we all work together?” Hiro said uncertainly. He wasn’t sure how he’d ended up pleading with Aunt Cass for cleaning duty. Aunt Cass looked even more surprised, if that was possible.

        “Well if...if you’re sure...” She said, straightening up.

        “If you two can wipe down the tables and sweep up then I can get the dishes done and mop, and then I think we’ll be good!” She said.

        Miguel took table duty as bleach often gave Hiro a rash if he had it on his hands for too long. So Hiro was left to sweep. They worked together in silence for a moment while they focused on their jobs. Hiro glanced at Miguel from under his bangs and found the other boy was biting his lip and scrubbing hard  at the tabletop of one of the café booths. His neatly trimmed brown hair looked mussed from the day’s heat and adventure. His shirt today was red, and fitted perfectly to his slim torso. Hiro looked back towards the floor he was sweeping.

        “What did you do today?” Miguel asked.

        “Huh? Oh, well mostly I was just working on some... stuff. Projects and such.” Evading the truth was second nature to Hiro, but when he looked back up at Miguel he found that the other boy had paused in his work and was frowning at him.

        “I already know your secret you do not need to lie.” Miguel said, the hint of a pout on his full lips. Hiro’s gut wrenched strangely. He ran a hand through his hair letting out a nervous laugh.

        “Okay fine, I was working on our investigation.”

        “In-in-investation?”

        “Um, superhero stuff.”

        “I knew it!” Miguel’s face broke into a grin. “Did you fight any bad guys?” Hiro pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

        “No, you know most of being a superhero is not actually fighting but trying to prevent crimes before they happen.” He leaned forward on the broom handle. “I was just doing research.” Miguel nodded, but he was still smiling.

        “Geez, get back to work, or we’ll never have any dinner.” Hiro said, feeling flustered for no particular reason. He turned his attention back to the crumbs on the floor. He could hear the spray bottle Miguel was spraying over the tables.

        “Do you have a superpower or do you only fight with your robot?” Miguel asked. Hiro sighed.

        “Well technically I programmed the robot so he is my superpower.” Hiro said, not looking up from the floor.

        “You…build the robot..?” Miguel asked, seemingly distracted from his work again.

        “Uh no, my brother built it. I just wrote some new code for him. You know used the computer to make him fight and stuff.”

        “You have a brother?” Miguel asked, and Hiro looked up at him—surprised. Miguel was standing by one of the tables, still holding the washcloth and spray bottle but watching Hiro with wide eyes. Hiro realized he couldn’t possibly know about Tadashi unless Aunt Cass had said something, but it was strange to think there was someone in his life who hadn’t heard.

        “Well, I had a brother. He actually died a couple years ago.” Hiro said, and he felt the familiar sadness rise in his chest. He was certain he’d never fully get over it. He must have looked more upset than he realized because Miguel’s expression changed dramatically.

        “I am so sorry.” Miguel said, eyebrows drawn together with concern.

        “Hey don’t worry about it. It was a while ago, and well…There’s nothing you can do when someone is gone.” Hiro rubbed his nose to get rid of the itchy feeling inside it.

        Miguel crossed the room, putting his cleaning supplies down on the table. Hiro watched as Miguel reached out and took both of his hands off the broom handle, his gaze followed the broom as it fell to the floor with a light thud. He looked back up at Miguel, and his breath caught in his throat. Hiro’s heart began hammering out of control in his chest. He couldn’t breathe. His eyes dipped unthinkingly to Miguel’s lips. The other boy was so close.

        “You can remember him Hiro, you must always remember him.” Miguel said, very slowly and carefully like he wanted to be sure of the words he used.

        Every inch between their bodies felt charged. He could barely register what Miguel had said. He felt his heart thumping painfully for a second longer before he pulled his hands away from Miguel’s, perhaps more roughly than was necessary.

        “Okay man, it’s not like I could just forget I had a brother.” Hiro said, tearing his eyes away from the other boy, and dragging a nervous hand through his hair. He felt like he’d been running.

        “That is not what I meant,” Miguel said, and opened his mouth to say something else, but Aunt Cass came in from the other room.

        “How are my little helpers doing?” She glanced around the room appreciatively. “Wow you guys did a great job!”

        “I’m not done!” Miguel said, whirling around and back to his cleaning. Hiro breathed, suddenly relieved. The tension from earlier dissipated like a thunderstorm, leaving fresh air behind.

        By the time the boys had helped Aunt Cass with dinner and eaten, Hiro had almost forgotten the conversation entirely. He was busy making it seem like he was going to bed but preparing to sneak out of the house for his meet-up with Gogo. Miguel had been ridiculously helpful making dinner and then washing dishes later. Aunt Cass kept sighing about how wonderful it was so have some help, so Hiro had excused himself before the dishes were done, feeling a growing annoyance for Miguel’s stupid, perfect behavior.

        Alone in his room he packed a backpack with supplies he thought he might need and debated the pros and cons of bringing Baymax. Pros: if it came to a fight, they would be hopeless without Baymax and without their own gear. Cons: Baymax still did not have a stealth mode. Hiro decided that the cons outweighed the pros as they would be actively trying to avoid a fight, so he left Baymax in his charging station.

        He heard footsteps on the stairs to the attic so he swiftly stashed his backpack in a desk drawer and sat down at his computer as if he had been working on something. Miguel came in moments later and crossed immediately to his side of the room where he knelt to open his guitar case.

        “Tía Cass says she want to hear me play, and I have to practice. Do you want to listen?” Miguel asked pulling a white guitar from the case. It wasn’t like any Hiro had ever seen before, painted with swirling patterns. The neck was designed to look like a skull with one gold tooth.

        “Um...” Hiro almost refused reflexively but he had to admit that he was curious. Miguel was going to some famous arts school after all, just how good was he? “Sure.”

       “Really?” Miguel looked up, he had begun tuning, plucking strings one by one and adjusting the knobs at the end of the guitar’s neck. He paused when he looked at Hiro.

        “Yeah I mean you said you’d impress me with your music so I have to find out if you can back up your claim.” Hiro said with a smirk. Miguel smiled back at him, shyly.

        “I hope you will like it.” He said, standing up and putting the guitar’s strap over his head.

        Downstairs Aunt Cass was waiting for them in the living room. She and Hiro sat on the couch and Miguel stood in the center of the living room. He looked a little nervous. Hiro thought it was sort of funny how theatrical the little performance was especially since Miguel was only practicing. He watched as the other boy took a deep breath and then strummed the guitar with great fervor, closing his eyes.

        The song he launched into was not only foreign to Hiro in style, it was also in Spanish. The rhythm felt like a dance as it rose and fell in a lively manner. Miguel accentuated the liveliness by moving around as he played and sang, walking back and forth and strumming dramatically smiling all the while. The singing was the best part. Miguel’s voice was amazing, sweet and lovely and Hiro’s heart beat faster in time to the music. It felt almost as though one moment he’d been sitting on the couch in his living room and the next he’d been transported to a different place that still looked like his living room but felt alive—brighter, more vibrant, and more intense but also more comfortable. He felt like he could jump up and dance and no one would think it was silly. Aunt Cass gasped and then laughed and clapped along. Hiro felt himself join her, clapping to the beat and couldn’t keep from smiling. When the song ended Miguel took a little bow and asked a little breathlessly:

        “You like it?”

        “Miguel! You’re amazing!” Aunt Cass jumped up and crushed the boy in a bear hug. “Wow, I’ve never seen anyone play guitar like that. You’ll need to play in the café sometime. You're going to be famous someday I can tell!" Miguel grinned and blushed, obviously quite pleased.

        "Thank you." He said and looked over Aunt Cass's shoulder as if he was trying to gauge Hiro's reaction. Immediately Hiro schooled his features to keep from giving his emotions away.

        "You play pretty well but I can't understand what you're singing about." Hiro said, not meeting Miguel's eyes. He knew it was a bratty response but he couldn't help himself.

        "I think it's hard to really like a song if you don't know what it means." He added. This was a lie. Hiro could listen to JPop all day. It was almost like he couldn't help teasing Miguel a little.

        "Hiro!" Aunt Cass began to chastise, but Miguel struggled out of her embrace and lifted his guitar again.

        "I will play you one in English then!" He said, determination in his eyes. "I promise you to understand the feeling." And with a downward twist of his mouth he began to play again. This time the melody was soft and slow like a lullaby. Hiro sat back against the couch cushions feeling a little guilty for being difficult. His Aunt threw him a dark look as she sat back down beside him. Miguel’s stubborn expression melted away as he opened his mouth to sing.

        "Remember me, though I have to say goodbye, remember me. Don't let it make you cry." The minute the words left Miguel's mouth Hiro regretted his rude comments. There was a rawness to the emotion behind the singing that made his heart ache. He thought suddenly of Tadashi and Miguel's strange actions earlier when they were cleaning. 'You can remember him.' He'd said.

        "For even if I'm far away I hold you in my heart. I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart." Miguel's soft voice continued. Hiro felt he he was fading out of reality. The song carried him back to warm summer days eating ice cream with his brother. Of hiking to watch the mist roll in from the sea to blanket the city. Of every insecurity he’d whispered in a dark room to the gentle reassurances Tadashi could always supply.

        “Remember me, though I have to travel far, remember me. Each time you hear a sad guitar...” And here Miguel’s voice rose and Hiro’s chest grew ever tighter. He couldn’t ignore the itchy feeling anymore and he rubbed his nose without thinking.

        “Know that I’m with you the only way that I can be. Until you’re in my arms again… Remember me.” Triumphantly Miguel opened his eyes, Hiro wished he was invisible. He swiftly rubbed the wetness from his cheeks but he knew his nose was red. He stood up quickly.

        “I’m going to bed.” He said, not looking at Aunt Cass and certainly not looking at Miguel. He kept his head down as he hurried up the stairs. Once he was in his room he threw himself into bed and buried his face in his pillow. Rationally, he wondered if it was his hormones that made him react so intensely to a stupid song—irrationally he felt like his soul had just been bared to an almost stranger and then reflected back at him through music.

 


End file.
